Month: September 2018

Rocketship Education is a chain of non-profit, K-5 college preparatory charter schools based in San Jose, California. From its inception in 2006, Rocketship used a blended education approach to introduce technology into schools in underserved communities. The mission was to help students who were lagging in educational achievements to be able to meet and exceed age appropriate standards. The curriculum is teacher led, flexible, and technology supported, and students receive personalized assignments that are matched to their needs. Parents are engaged in the learning experience and Rocketship garners community and financial support by stressing its positive results.

Though there have been a number of academic gains, results have been inconsistent. Critics have stated that academic achievements have come at the risk of increased pressure on teachers and unreasonable expectations on students. Rocketship Education has responded to negative publicity by explaining that even in down years student performance is still better than other public or charter schools in the California area. The administration also points out that learning is more efficient because projects are personalized and learning is more relevant so students progress more quickly.

The blended learning approach has also led to gains in areas like student self-control, self-discipline, and independent learning. Based on the high level of success, the school planned a major expansion in 2015. Unfortunately, the moves did not go as well as planned and Rocketship had to answer critics once again. They did this by admitting that the lab type experience is difficult to replicate and there is a limited availability of teachers who are trained to teach using the blended method. These facts along with issues with funding and new community support forced the school to scale back its expansion plans.

Rocketship has also been under fire for operating more like a business than a non-profit. In response, the school stressed its community involvement in a number of projects to encourage women to pursue mathematics and science and to support all students in their pursuit of higher education.

Unlike most financial advisors Matt Badiali spent his life building an entire resume as a geologist before he realized he had true potential and skill in the world of finance. He has developed a reputation for himself as an individual who can spot a natural resource stock worth investing in. He recently made a bold claim about silver potentially being a phenomenal investment. Silver, like many other commodities, has recently taken a severe beating. The price was pushed down to $14.15 at the beginning of September. Silver is very close to hitting its 2015 low. Silver had a nice bounce in the first half of 2016, but it could not hold the momentum. Matt Badiali tells investors that the current price action in silver had not been seen since the 2008 Housing Crisis.

Matt Badiali pointed out that the strength in the United States dollar is the reason that we have been witnessing the decline in the precious metals. The dollar tends to be a safe-haven during geopolitical uncertainty. Many countries around the world are facing problems with their currencies devaluing, so they are dumping their own currencies and buying dollars. A strengthening dollar will usually be bad for commodities and they will tend to decline. The strong dollar and weak commodities have been the trend for a good portion of this year.

Matt Badiali tells investors that over the past couple of years cryptocurrencies have gained popularity because there is growing distrust in fiat currencies. He says that people who would have put their money into gold and silver many years ago are choosing the cryptocurrencies instead, which is why the cryptocurrency market skyrocketed in a short period of time. Matt Badiali places a contrarian view on silver. He says the silver prices are historically cheap, and the fundamentals for owning silver have never been stronger. Industrial demand for silver has continued to grow year after year. For us to have our modern economy and with other countries around the world pushing for cleaner energy, the demand for silver will only go higher. At these extremes in silver, it is possible for investors to make serious gains.

David McDonald started his career in OSI at the point when growth and innovation filtered operations. He became part of this development and embraced to date.

In an interview with CEOCFO Magazine, McDonald stated that he joined OSI Group 30 years ago and it had an incredible aspiration towards growth. This aspiration and drive still exist. The high interest towards growth and development is the foundation of the OSI Group culture. The dream back then was to be entirely global and be valued and trusted partners to their customers.

David McDonald witnessed the growth and development of OSI Group instilling much knowledge in him regarding the being steeped in the OSI Group Corporate culture and the inherent technical issues in the operation of close partnership with the various other companies based in other regions. McDonald intuitively came to understand the OSI Group leadership vision, its dedication not only towards growth but also towards the development of a stable workforce that incorporates long-term rates of retention.

David McDonald also affirmed that their vision has barely changed. The growth of this company is driven by their consistent dedication towards improvement and more delivery to their customers. He noted that OSI Group values the family within. They view their people and their customers as a part of their family. Their motive is to come up with products that offer maximum satisfaction to their respective families.

McDonald was grounded firmly on OSI Group leadership by the time China joined WTO, World Trade Organization back in 2001. When Otto & Sons experienced a concurrent growth with McDonald’s restaurant, OSI Group had already established its business foundation in China before the entrance of China. The OSI Group was set and well prepare to grow concurrently with the Chinese economy that was covered by a period of instant growth.

The growth was still in process as there were some joint venture entities led by OSI in conjunction with WFOEs (Wholly Foreign-Owned Entities) that were based in China. David McDonald was the central character who was involved in operating the Chinese bureaucratic labyrinth ins and outs. This was enabled by OSI Group leadership emphasis on a legitimate partnership with the neighboring businesses in conjunction with its corporate structure.